There was a group of GST protesters
throwing out this question in front of the Customs Department headquarters.

Sardine is a very common food for
ordinary citizens, especially the lower to middle-income groups. as for
lobster, most people only have the luxury of gazing at the pictures.

So, the poor will have to pay GST
for sardine while the financially loaded can escape GST for gulping the
lobster?

It was said that the officials at
the Customs Department were somewhat embarrassed and dumbfounded. In the end,
they could only manage to come up with a convenient answer: The Parliament made
the decision!

Little wonder GST has caused so much
uproar and little wonder many were stockpiling commodities in frustration.

Sardine and lobster aside, we still
have tons of unanswered questions, for example untreated chicken drumstick is
GST-free while the same thing coated with curry powder will be subjected to
GST.

I am a little worried. The GST went
into effect yesterday, but not a single person in this country, including the
Customs DG, actually understands the GST in its entirety.

What items are subjected to GST and
what are not? What are the procedures like? How is the accounting software
going to fit in? How about miscalculations? And what are the penalties for
failure to implement GST correctly?

The authorities say initial glitches
and confusion happened in all countries during the early stages of GST
implementation.

But, do we have more of them?

Zero-rated, GST-exempt, standard-rated...
that’s confusing enough as the lists are being perpetually modified. To make
things worse, why choose to force it through at a time when the economy is
slumping and market sentiment depressed?

The fact is, confusion did indeed
exist in over 160 countries that have implemented the GST, and many governments
were battered when they first implemented it.

During the 1993 elections in
Australia, the Liberal Party of Australia under the leadership of Dr John
Hewson was campaigning hard on an economic card. The party wanted to implement
the GST to replace existing sales tax and reduce income tax. The election was
seen as a sure bet for Hewson.

A trained economist, Hewson had a
strong passion for GST, like all other economists, thinking it was the most efficient
and fair taxation system.

Many middle class wage earners
having to pay hefty income taxes supported Hewson’s GST, but the response from
the lower and middle-income groups was lukewarm. These people were not worried
about income taxes but GST.

To win the support of this group of
voters, Hewson amended the content of his GST, putting food and other
necessities into the GST-exempt list.

But then, that made the public even
more confusing.

Ten days before the election, Hewson
went on TV and was asked by the host whether the prices of cakes would go up if
he were elected.

He struggled for an answer, saying
it would depend on whether there were other taxes associated with the cake, and
whether it was a birthday cake, and then whether the cake was decorated.

The public lost their faith in
Hewson. In the end, what was seen as a sure bet for Hewson turned out to be a
major flop.

Hopefully the Australian experience
should serve as an inspiration to the BN government in Malaysia.

Yes, the Customs Department later
issued an official statement saying lobster, a crustacean, was classified as a
zero-rated fundamental food stuff while sardine was processed food and was
therefore standard-rated.

Do you think it was convincing
enough? — Sin Chew Daily

* This is the personal opinion of
the writer and does not necessarily represent the views of Malay Mail Online.